Middletown Chamber Of Commerce Will Freeze Time In A Capsule Today

MIDDLETOWN — A slice of 1995 is slated to be buried today deep under a Main Street sidewalk, as the Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce deposits a time capsule marking its 100th anniversary.

The time capsule, a 4-foot-long, sealed PVC pipe, will contain many chamber-related items, including membership directories on paper and computer disk, the anniversary coffee mug, a list of donors to the centenary fund and current chamber literature.

There will be letters from the governor and from federal and state legislators, copies of the local newspapers, Head of the Connecticut regatta posters, old and current photographs of Middlesex County and examples of U.S. currency.

A time capsule was the idea of the chamber's 100th anniversary committee.

``We thought of the idea as an interesting way for us to communicate to future generations what we did today,'' said committee Chairman Gary Gomola.

Committee members, he added, wished someone had buried a time capsule that could be opened for this year's centenary celebration.

The time capsule buried today is slated to be opened 50 years from now, on Oct. 26, 2045.

Gomola said 100 years was too long a wait; Children and grandchildren likely will still be alive five decades from now.

Area officials and business leaders are scheduled to gather outside the chamber's 393 Main St. office at 11:45 a.m. to bury the capsule.

City crews will have removed a square block of the sidewalk and a concrete box used for catch basins placed in the excavated spot, Gomola said. The box is designed to alert future generations of diggers that there's something there, he added, so the time capsule won't be thrown away by mistake.

As added insurance that the time capsule doesn't go unnoticed, an 18-inch brass plaque will be installed flush with the sidewalk.

Richard Lagana of Crouch & Lagana Memorials of Portland fashioned the circular plaque, which he said will feature the chamber logo.

After the time capsule is buried, the chamber will offer a light lunch to members of its board of directors and invited guests.

Lawrence D. McHugh, chamber president, thanked the city officials for cooperating with the time capsule project, for opening and closing the sidewalk for free and donating the PVC pipe.

The Middlesex County Chamber of Commerce has 1,750 members employing more than 49,000 people.